The topic of this paper is the evolution of the discourse marker comme qui
dirait from Old French to Modern French. At the beginning, the marker has the
meaning of a hypothetical comparative si comme l’en diroit / comme + qui + diroit
meaning comme si l’on disait ‘as if one said’. In a second stage, the marker
becomes a reformulative marker with a meaning similar to c’est-à-dire ‘that is
to say’. Finally, in a third stage, it becomes a polyphonic mitigation marker. The
diachronic study of comme qui dirait explains its contemporary meaning and
reveals its semantic features. In addition, a polyphonic analysis will allow us to
understand the role of the speaker and of the enunciators in the enunciation of
the marker.